Business class review on Emirates' newest A350 flying daily from Bologna to Dubai

A long-awaited flight with lots of patience, a flight that was supposed to leave the first of December according to the initial plans of Emirates, but then the deliveries of the Airbus A350 have struggled to keep up the pace, and so from the first of December, the start date of this connection has been slowly shifted until June 21, 2025.

With practically 7 months late, therefore, the first A350 from Italy, what was to be the de facto first and only Italian airport served with the Premium Economy and with a new car he lost his leadership, as theA380 with premium economy flies to Milan now almost continuously for more than a month and as of July 1 will officially be one of the routes operated with theA380 revamped and configured with 4 classes.

Reservation

It is a reservation that I have told over and over again, to be precise whenever EK postponed the debut and I was writing the article I remembered how I got the original ticket as soon as I Emirates had announced the presence of these machines.

Ticket booked with Skywards points, cost of 87,000 points, as well as almost 400 € tax.

A note that cost me dearly. Yes, a ticket I had rushed because I wanted to secure the inaugural flight and, I had known in hindsight that it wasn't even there, but I'm not saying the celebrations, not even a commemorative postcard, maybe I wouldn't have even done that.

Ticket that, being booked with the points in the fare Flex, it has cost me more, but it has also given me the opportunity during these months to Continue to move it de facto at no cost Until the last change. No problem as long as Moving from June 1 to June 21 was impossible for me: prize places sold out.

I then wrote to Emirates And asked for the "courtesy" of having a change. Of course, I had to violate one of my rules, namely that of not alerting anyone to my presence on board, but it was my only chance to succeed in getting the change.

At the airport

I arrived at Bologna late in the morning And here I discovered, for the first time. Electronic toll competition is also coming to airport parking lots. For the first time, no access to customers Telepass e Bars up for those who use UnipolMove.

It was my First (and perhaps last) time from this airport. And I have to say, because of the traffic it develops, the importance of the surrounding area, I expected an air terminal put in better shape.

Of the fact that there are no lounges I had already written, but I did not expect so much chaos and little logic in the public area of the airport.

I already had my digital boarding pass, but I decided to wait until check-in opened to take the collectible paper boarding pass.

The most absurd thing, however, was the need to Go to the lounge kiosk to get my fast track activated On my boarding pass.

Business travel, should be automatic, but that was not the case.

Dulcis in fundo, when I tried to cross the gate by scanning my boarding pass, I was locked out. Reason? "Too soon.", that is, they were missing 3 hours and 9 minutes to takeoff (so just over 2 hours to embarkation).

Wandering around the air terminal, waiting to admire the greeting of the firefighters, I had the opportunity to meet so many readers of The Flight Club, and many were also on this inaugural flight without, however, knowing.

At the gate, as mentioned, there was no sign of any kind of celebration, but the nicest thing was. Emirates' premium passenger waiting area.. A small fence, Without any control and without any fence. In short, no one checking and therefore Seats occupied by anyone without distinction, including passengers on other flights.

A Bologna, I discovered, there are no fingers, or if there are are practically never used, ed EK always uses the most remote parking area of the air terminal. Only this flight had the honor of being positioned right in front of the terminal, and only to be able to be immortalized in souvenir photos.

No celebration (if you don't count the water cannon)

Occasion that was not even celebrated. I had the opportunity to report in an article that there was no celebration, if not the classic water cannon.

Nothing at all, no remembered events, no postcards, absolutely nothing. Passengers "discovered" they were flying in this new machine without their knowledge just at the time of the traditional firefighter salute.

Boarding via bus

Very bad The fact that despite the heat, the bus of business class passengers was without air conditioning. Really unacceptable, given the weather, given the type of passengers, and especially because we waited for the bus to fill up with all business passengers, in addition to the Skywards Gold status holders.

Ladder boarding is hated by all when you're flying Ryanair, let alone flying EK and you have to climb up to the door of an A350.

Of course, I was last to board, I was not interested in taking pictures of the empty booth, partly because I had already had the opportunity to visit this machine, this configuration, then I enjoyed the view, ramp movements, and the joy of the people who were capturing the moment, just the way I like it.

On board

Climbed aboard I left in my armchair, I had managed to reserve the sitting 6K.

The advice I give is that of choose chairs wisely, because The alternation of the checkerboard arrangement causes there to be places where you are closer to the corridor and places where you are less close. More where you have more privacy And you're near the windows, and so on.

Obviously on The Flight Club there is an article that Explains which places are best, what are the places not to choose and also costs. Choosing your seat with Emirates is still free For business class passengers.

Also on board I did not perceive any kind of celebration, were it not for the Italian pilot who reminded passengers that this was the debut of the A350 on Bologna.

I have already described the cabin in several articles: absolutely reminds one of the business class product featured on the A380 e present on the 777 renewed. Of course, there are small differences, but one is really remarkable And it is about structure: the presence of plastic, where from other parts we have aluminum or iron.

Plastic was chosen because. costs less and why it is lighter, starting with the minibar structure, which on the A380s is made of iron and gives you the feeling of being durable, whereas here it is just plasticaccia, thus a product very light, but that in my opinion Will also have issues with consumption and easy breakage.

Configuration obviously 1-2-1, as I said, rows A and K are those closest to the windows or with less proximity to the aisle, vice versa center odd rows are those that allow passengers to travel closer together.

Always immaculate bathrooms, classic Emirates finishes and no fancy technological inventions. Two fully accessible toilets are also on board For passengers with reduced mobility.

Again, as on the refurbished 777s, A social zone has been inserted above the passengers' heads sitting in the last row, the most useless and unpretty thing possible, a reason to avoid the last row.

Armchair

Let's say. there is nothing that has not already been seen.

Emirates said: we want to have a consistent product, we want to make sure that our passenger recognize himself from economy to business class and be comfortable because has already flown with this product, this technology and points to the "his favorite chair".

When I say it's all been seen before, I mean the armchair, the finishes, the faux wood..

Okay, there is much less gold than before, however, for everything else it is What we have already seen for better or worse.

There are some things I like, such as the presence of the air vents, the fact that it was decided to don't put electrochromic windows, but the real curtains. Lo screen is large, but not huge, there is the live TV and the Wi-Fi.

I like where they are Positioned the buttons for seat management, they don't bother you and you don't accidentally crush them.

I like them. Where the sockets and USB ports are located..

In contrast, the chair is very narrow, beautiful and very elegant, but really tight. And if On the refurbished 777s, this defect is less noticeable, it is only because we are talking about a narrower fuselage and as a result, the seats are also smaller.

There is a feeling of being in a cage. The chair becomes a bed, the orientation is straight, so you are in a comfortable position, but In bed mode, the fixed armrest makes everything even tighter.

The presence of the fake minibar is useless as usual: there is no closed storage, there is no well, there is nothing, just as we have seen on other machines.

Service

The service on Emirates is always top. Of course, in the Emirates household, this A350 enshrines a momentous change and you see the same labors that I saw when I flew aboard the Allegris of Lufthansa, with theAir France's A350 e I saw it here today.

Emirates has only 8 A350s in service right now, then It is not customary for crews to fly aboard these machines and this results in increased stress.

I asked to make a souvenir photo, a pampering that aboard an airplane offers only Emirates and that I take home with me after every special flight With this company.

Shortly after takeoff, the topper, a excellent solution to sleep more comfortably even if it is a daytime flight, but that I I appreciate it because it isolates you from the session, especially is a hygienic issue.

On board, as soon as they enter, they already find themselves the envelope with the cover and I still don't understand So that the pillow is not also in it, which is instead left on the seat, where people sit on it with their butts, but sometimes also on the feet.

It was distributed, along with the first welcome drink, also the amenity kit, which I recall for Emirates is by two types: male and female. Inside, as usual, all the top of the range, and the major difference between the two versions is that in the man's kit there is also shaving cream and a razor, which is not present in the women's kit.

In place also the second kit, with Slippers and mask in a separate, reusable bag.

From this point of view nothing can be said to Emirates except that it is at the top of the market.

Infotainment

ICE was already the top of the line, here it is enhanced with a 4K screen e Bluetooth connectivity, the iconic tablet (which weighs a lot) which serves as the second screen and, finally, a Wi-Fi that should be ultra high-performance.

It continues to be at the top of the range by content, the top of the line for quality, the top of the line for the presence of Live TV channels.

Truly it is impossible not to find something to look at, it is impossible Not finding something to do during the flight.

There are the games, documentaries, podcasts, even cooking classes. There is really all you want. No one beats Emirates in terms of infotainment And finally, thanks to these new machines, there is also the guarantee of constant Wi-Fi and that it works.

For passengers of Business Class is completely free, also on multiple devices, then top, just too bad. performance is nowhere near Qatar with Starlink, but also to Other carriers that offer significantly faster connectivity, both in download than upload.

There is also the ability to charge the cell wirelessly, but I am not a fan of this technology aboard an airplane.

Food & Beverage

I can't complain, although I ate better on board an Emirates flight.

La disappointment However, it was also seen here, as on the rest of the fleet, service to the tray and not to the plate. The trolley passing through the aisle as in Economy, on any low-cost.

Being a flight that lasts less than 6 hours, the crew tries to Taking it a little bit easy at first, also because many passengers on these routes do not want to sleep.

78 passengers to serve, do to the tray and trolley drinks, however make them where all the other premium companies do a flat service, as Qatar, Air France And like others.

As an appetizer, I had the Arabic mezze, the appetizer with hummus, olives and lamb meatballs, which is served aboard All companies in MO.  For the main course I had meat. It was overcooked and very dry.

In the cheese plate there were no flavors of Emilia-Romagna, indeed.

La cake, instead, was good, particularly with the salted caramel sauce.

Speaking of the wine list, I must say. we are in the midst of shrinkflation, reduced really a lot, we had one champagne. Two whites, two reds, a Significant reduction from that (from memory) offered on other flights.

Pre-landing ice cream was offered.

In conclusion

La trinkets, the technology and everything else is the classic Emirates product, then absolutely promoted.

Is it worth this price? No.

I would not fly business class on this route, I would fly in Economy why lasts a very short time, because it's really cheap and because anyway you fly very well on this cabin, on this machine also in Economy.

Would I recommend it? I don't know. L'A380 is the A380. A price parity and for 2 hours drive, I would fly A380.

• skywards